Willpower
by memarkw
Summary: How season 6 could have ended


Title: "Will Power  
  
Author: memarkw@yahoo.com  
  
Disclaimer: Joss, et al.   
  
SPOILERS - WARNING MAJOR SPOILER!!!!!! TAKES PLACE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING "SEEING RED (Tuesday, may 7) AND BEFORE "VILLAINS (Tuesday, may 14)!!!! IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT A MAJOR CHARACTERS DEATH, DO NOT READ THIS. IF YOU DO WANT TO READ IT, SCROLL DOWN TO THE STORY...  
  
"Your shirt..."   
  
...was the last thing Willow heard after the gunshot. She watched as her lover fell to the ground. Unaware of the blood that covered the front of her body, she scooped Tara up in her arms,held her, and cried.  
  
This couldn't be happening - Tara couldn't be dying. Willow could feel the darkness growing within. She wanted to let it come, she could use it to save Tara. In an instant, she remembered that Tara didn't want her to use magic anymore. It had torn them apart once. Now she had to decide...  
  
Use it to save Tara and take a chance of losing her again, and of losing herself, or she could not use it and risk Tara dying.  
  
"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!   
  
The choice was made. Tara would not die - not on this day. Willow placed her hands over the gaping exit wound and started screaming as she pressed as hard as she could. She had to apply pressure. "HELP ME! HELP ME!" She was totally unaware that downstairs in the backyard that Xander was doing the same thing. "SOMEONE, HELP ME!"   
  
Dawn ran in. She had started running when she heard the glass break after the gunshot. The six or seven seconds since the gunshot had been the longest of her life. She burst into Willow's room and came to an immediate halt. "No....Wil? Tara?"   
  
Willow looked up. "Dawn! Call 911! Hurry! She's dying, Dawnie, she's dying!"   
  
Dawn grabbed the phone and dialed as she spoke. "Willow, save her. DO something."   
  
"I am. Apply pressure and call 911, that's all I can do!" Dawn heard the voice on the other end say "911 Emergency services, what is the nature of your emergency?"   
  
"Oh God, please come, please hurry, she's dying, she's shot."   
  
"Calm down, honey. Tell me your name."   
  
"I'm Dawn Summers." She rattled off her phone number and quickly told the operator what had happened. The dispatcher assured her that help would be there within minutes. Already, they could hear sirens in the distance.   
  
"DAWN! Help me! She isn't breathing! Press this!"   
  
Dawn fell to her knees and replaced Willow's hands with her own. She put all her weight behind them, trying to apply enough pressure to keep another family member from dying. "Willow, you can save her! Use a spell!"   
  
Willow hesitated. She looked at her soul mate. There was no choice to make. "I can't Dawn. I can't. Not after Buffy and everything. You know how Tara feels about it...She'd rather die than have me save her that way, now keep pressing and let me work!" With that, the red head placed her lips over Tara's and formed a seal. She breathed into Tara's lungs, giving her breath. She then placed her hands on Tara's chest and counted ribs. Finding the right spot, she started compressions. She heard the bone break.   
  
"Stop it, Willow! You're hurting her!"   
  
"It's ok, baby, it's ok!" She finished the compressions and went back to the dying girl's mouth. She breathed for her again and went back to the compressions. She was still performing CPR when the EMTs arrives four minutes later. The emergency workers had to physically remove the two girls from their friend.   
  
********************************************   
  
She could hear voices. She opened her eyes, but couldn't see anything right away. Taking a moment to adjust she focused. She could see Willow, Dawn, and Xander next to her. Her mouth was very dry, to the point she could barely do more than whisper.   
  
"W...what happened?"   
  
"Shhhh. Don't talk. You're ok."   
  
"I...I...don't...feel ok."   
  
"You'll be fine. You lost a lot of blood, but they were able to patch you up. You'll be good as new," Xander said, his voice heavy with emotion.   
  
Dawn took Tara's hand. "I love you, Tara."   
  
"I love y...you, too, baby."   
  
Willow put her head on Tara's bed and cried.   
  
"It's ok, honey, I...I'm ok. What happened?"   
  
Xander told her how he had looked up to see Warren coming towards them with a gun in hand. "The next thing I know, Buffy is..." Xander broke and let a sob escape, then composed himself. "Buffy knocked me down. When I got up I saw her laying there. The bastard shot her. I tried to help her, god, I did try..." He started sobbing again and this time couldn't stop.   
  
"Wh...N...Where's Buffy?" No one answered. "Wil? Dawn? Where's Buffy?" No one answered.   
  
Dawn wrapped her arms around the young Harris.   
  
"D..D..Damnit! T..talk to me!"   
  
Willow lifted her head and looked at Tara. "I didn't use magic. I didn't. You wanted me to stop."   
  
With all the effort she could muster, Tara spoke without stuttering. "Willow, where is Buffy?"   
  
"I had to give you CPR. Dawn had to hold your wound to stop the bleeding. I wanted to use the magic. It was so powerful in me, Tara. But I stopped it. We did CPR until the ambulance got there. and I didn't use the magic. We didn't here Xander screaming for help. We just didn't hear him."   
  
"Xan...Xander isn't hurt, is he? You're not, are you Xander? Why did you need help?"   
  
Xander took a breath and spoke through his tears. "He did to her what he did to you. I couldn't save her by myself. I tried. She was gone before the ambulance got there..." and he started crying again.   
  
Slowly, the room was filled with nothing but the quiet sobs of a group of friends who had lost one of their own and reclaimed one of their own on the same day. This time, though, there would be no bringing her back.  
  
The magic was gone forever. 


End file.
